Will “Certified First Assistant (CFA)” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔
Unknown Chance of Automation
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Job Description
Assist surgeons during surgery by performing duties such as tissue retraction, insertion of tubes and intravenous lines, or closure of surgical wounds. Perform preoperative and postoperative duties to facilitate patient care.
Job Details
- The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 29-2099.07
☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Surgical Assistants”.
Also Known As…
- Surgical Assistants
- Surgical Technician (Surgical Tech)
- Surgical Scrub Technician (Surgical Scrub Tech)
- Surgical First Assistant
- Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA)
- Gastrointestinal Technician (GI Technician)
- Certified Surgical Technician
- Certified Surgical First Assistant (CSFA)
- Certified Surgical Assistant (CSA)
- Certified Registered Nurse First Assistant (CRNFA)
- Surgical Services Assistant
- Surgical Assistant-Certified (SA-C)
- Surgical Assistant
- Surgery Technician
- Operating Room Technician
- Operating Room Assistant
- First Assistant
- Certified First Assistant (CFA)
- Assistant-at-Surgery
Tasks for “Certified First Assistant (CFA)”
- Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies.
- Assist in applying casts, splints, braces, or similar devices.
- Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers.
- Remove patient hair or disinfect incision sites to prepare patient for surgery.
- Operate sterilizing devices.
- Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
- Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.
- Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
- Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
- Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
- Transport patients to operating room.
- Coordinate or participate in the positioning of patients, using body stabilizing equipment or protective padding to provide appropriate exposure for the procedure or to protect against nerve damage or circulation impairment.
- Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
- Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
- Monitor patient intra-operative status, including patient position, vital signs, or volume and color of blood.
- Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
- Verify the identity of patient or operative site.
- Insert or remove urinary bladder catheters.
- Discuss with surgeon the nature of the surgical procedure, including operative consent, methods of operative exposure, diagnostic or laboratory data, or patient-advanced directives or other needs.
- Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
- Incise tissue layers in lower extremities to harvest veins.
- Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
- Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
- Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings.
- Assist in volume replacement or autotransfusion techniques.
- Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures.
- Adjust and maintain operating room temperature, humidity, or lighting, according to surgeon's specifications.
- Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
Related Technology & Tools
- Anesthesia carts
- Suture kits
- Argon beam coagulators
- Vascular clamps
- Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Nd:YAG lasers
- Telethermometers
- Blanket warmer cabinets
- Laptop computers
- Mayo stands
- Blood warming equipment
- Suction machines
- Surgical masks
- Surgical razors
- Cauterizing equipment
- Surgical dermatomes
- Flash sterilizers
- Cell savers
- Subcutaneous injection syringes
- Powered surgical drills
- Nerve stimulators
- Ethylene Oxide sterilizers
- Endoscopic camera/video systems
- Desktop computers
- Carbon dioxide CO2 lasers
- Angiocaths
- Surgical robots
- Surgical protective goggles
- Body stabilizers
- Pagers
- Personal computers
- Medical image processing printers
- Surgical clamps
- Intravenous IV sets
- Heart pacemakers
- Pneumatic tourniquets
- Surgical trocars
- Hospital intercom equipment
- Cast cutting saws
- Medical staple kits
- Sterile drapes
- Cardiac monitoring equipment
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Automated external defibrillators AED
- Sterile gowns
- C-arm tables
- Surgical retractors
- Pressure steam autoclaves
- Surgical fracture tables
- Patient positioning devices
- Eye lasers
- Patient transport stretchers
- Urinary catheters
- Eye magnets
- Surgical scalpels
- Specimen collection containers
- Hypothermia units
- Wound drains
- Fluid warmers
- Fiberoptic endoscopes
- Laparoscopes
- Hemostat clamps
- Surgical gloves
- Head stabilizers
- MEDITECH software
- Surgery workflow communication software
- Patient tracking software
- Supply documentation software
- Microsoft Excel
- Patient scheduling software
- Nursing documentation software
- Electronic medical record EMR software